Efficient generation and multiplexing of optical orbital angular momentum modes in a ring fiber by using multiple...

Area of Science:

• Optical communications
• Photonics
• Waveguide technology

Background:

• Orbital angular momentum (OAM) offers a promising avenue for increasing data transmission capacity.
• Efficient generation and multiplexing of OAM modes in optical fibers remain a significant challenge.
• Existing methods often suffer from complexity, loss, or limited scalability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an efficient method for generating and multiplexing multiple optical orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes in a fiber with a ring refractive index profile.
• To demonstrate the selective generation of OAM modes with controlled phase relationships.
• To enable simultaneous multiplexing of multiple OAM modes with minimal additional loss.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing multiple coherent Gaussian mode inputs into a ring refractive index profile fiber.
• Controlling the phase relationship of the input beams to selectively generate OAM states.
• Adjusting both amplitude and phase of inputs for simultaneous generation and multiplexing of multiple OAM modes.
• Simulating the generation of OAM modes with OAM state |l|<3.

Main Results:

• Achieved selective generation of OAM modes with mode purity greater than 99%.
• Demonstrated simultaneous generation and multiplexing of multiple OAM modes without additional loss.
• Simulated power loss for generating and multiplexing seven modes was approximately 35%.
• Proposed a transmitter design for OAM-based mode-division multiplexing systems.

Conclusions:

• The proposed approach offers an efficient and scalable solution for OAM mode generation and multiplexing.
• Integration of ring fiber, multicore fiber, and photonic integrated circuit technology could enable experimental implementation.
• This method has the potential to significantly advance the capacity of optical communication systems.